Car & Driver II

Ford Taurus SHO

BY BARRY WINFIELD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY

If there was anything wrong with the first SHO
Taurus, it was that it lacked refinement. It certainly did not lack
performance. Even with the automatic transmission that was introduced for
1993 to bolster sales, the SHO ran to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds and tripped the
quarter-mile lights in 15.7 seconds. That put it in the company of the BMW
325i and the Acura Legend. Along with such sprightly acceleration came
marvelous midrange flexibility and rip-snorting throttle response.

Somehow, this failed to impress the sports-sedan clique,
who refrained from purchasing SHO Tauruses in even the modest numbers Ford
had hoped for. It's a risky wager, but we bet the new Ford Taurus SHO does
not suffer the same fate.

Why? Because the car has moved into a new niche, its
focus has altered, and its image has shifted upmarket. And the car will cost
a lot more--about $33,000, Ford tells us. The new SHO is more a four-door
Lincoln Mark VIII than it is a souped-up family sedan. The choice of a V-8
underlines that fact as much as it fulfills the prophecy we heard from Ford
officials a few years ago that all Fords would soon be powered by engines
from their own drawing boards.

The new SHO's engine shares the basic architecture of the
Duratec 2.5-liter V-6 found in the smaller Contour, with exactly the same
bore, stroke, and cylinder spacing. Development time decreases when all of
an engine's dimensions and parameters have already been explored. This
commonality endows the 3.4-liter V-8 with a 60-degree angle between cylinder
banks, relinquishing the usual 90-degree V-8's inherent equilibrium and
making the installation of a balance shaft necessary.

Although this is a Ford engine, development was shared by
Yamaha, which machines and assembles the engines in Japan after receiving
castings produced, using a patented Cosworth process, by Ford's plant in
Windsor, Ontario. The finished engines are shipped back to Ford's Atlanta
assembly plant for installation in the SHO Taurus. It is the only Ford
engine with direct ignition, reverse-flow cooling, and aluminum bucket
tappets in the valve train.

And what a civilized engine it is. Producing just a satisfying purr at
cruising speeds--and a mellow snarl when spurred to greater effort--the
four-cam V-8 sounds and feels more expensive than the V-6 it replaces. But
it doesn't have the immediacy that the old V-6 flaunted, nor the
enthusiastic midrange pickup. Although the V-8 produces more torque (225
pound-feet versus 215 at the same 4800 rpm), it seems to lack the V-6's
instant midrange throttle response.

The early prototype SHO we tested was also less capable
in every performance category except braking, where it equaled the old car's
197-foot stopping distance from 70 mph. Its 8.0-second 0-to-60 time makes it
0.4 second slower than the previous SHO automatic we tested. It was also a
half-second slower in the quarter-mile. The impression of having less
midrange response is heightened by the fact that the new SHO comes only with
an automatic transmission; it downshifts obediently at any generous measure
of throttle increase, choosing to rev rather than to lug. And this
impression is also reinforced by the somewhat distant nature of the
well-isolated powerplant.

In the old SHO, a dig at the throttle produced an
exuberant snarl from the engine, a distinct tug of torque steer at the
wheel, and a surge of power. In the new car, such things are handled much
more circumspectly, the sensations diluted by the improved body structure,
the well-behaved steering, the seamless transmission, and the thick layer of
refinement that coats all of the car's mechanical exploits.

The only part of the new SHO's repertoire that is
uncharacteristically rude is the ride quality across abrupt breaks in the
pavement. Over tar patches and bad expansion strips, the suspension thumps
like a buckboard--this despite automatic dual-level damping, which is
informed by ride-height sensors and initiated by electronics. Over less
sudden undulations, the ride is nice and flat, with little roll or pitch to
disturb its attitude.

The SHO is also very quiet on pavement that lacks the
sharp breaks needed to set up that disturbing percussion, and it covers
ground with a tempo understated by the car's good composure and quiet ride.
Helping keep the act together is a remarkably smooth and precise variably
assisted steering gear, along with handling that keeps the car faithfully on
your chosen line without any of the deviations you usually expect from
changes in surface camber or texture.

Here again, the quality of the new SHO's steering and
handling is subtle, engineered to keep the occupants isolated from the
action rather than involved in it. You have to detect the tiny bit of road
feel through the damped steering mechanism and to acknowledge the good
off-center response visually rather than as a tactile change of wheel
effort.

Consequently, the new SHO is less of an overt driver's
car, even though it exhibits much better poise than its predecessor. Most of
the torque steer is gone, but the new car still swivels slightly off-course
under full throttle, at the same time revealing a mild locked-up steering
effect. Squeeze in a degree of correction and the car locks onto a heading
slightly off-course in the other direction, if you're still accelerating
hard.

Mainly, though, the new SHO just goes obediently about
its business. The electronically controlled AX4N transmission is among the
least intrusive mechanisms of its kind, producing upshifts (just above 6000
rpm, despite the 7000-rpm redline) that are a perfect blend of speed and
smoothness, and downshifts that are more apparent on the tach than they are
through the seat of the pants. Squeeze the overdrive button off while
cruising and you can watch the tach needle swing to a new position without
any discernible driveline surge. It's that smooth.

Along with the creamy driveline, the new SHO has a roomy
interior filled with sculpted forms, organic moldings, and swoopy panels.
When you slide inside it, any expectations of a sporty persona dissolve. The
accommodations are generous and comfortable. The switches are clear and easy
to use, with decent tactile qualities, but the surfaces are as impersonal as
the control interfaces. The oval center console, in particular, is an
art-deco affectation that feels as if it will not grow friendlier with time.

Still, the only part of the SHO's polished new upscale
personality that does not work is the jittery, clumpy ride on high-frequency
pavement breaks. The rest of it--questionable styling aside--is genteel
enough to lure luxury-car aspirants who wouldn't have considered the
previous Taurus SHO. As for the fans of the previous car . . . Ford must be
hoping that they have matured, too.